The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary and Paranormal romance including The Find You in the Dark and Bad Rep series as well as the upcoming stand alone romance, Reclaiming the Sand, and a dark new adult series for Gallery Books.

A. Meredith spent ten years as a counselor for at risk teens and children. First working at a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault program and then later a program for children with severe emotional and mental health issues. Her former clients and their stories continue to influence every aspect of her writing.

When not writing (or being tortured with all manner of beauty products at the hand of her very imaginative and extremely girly daughter), she is eating chocolate, watching reality television that could rot your brain and reading a smutty novel or two.

A. Meredith is represented by Michelle Johnson with the Inklings Literary Agency.

“Maybe I should tell you a story. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that. You always liked when I made up dumb stuff to get you to smile.” I chuckled. “The more improbable the better, right? So let me think of something completely unrealistic.”

I sniffled, wiping my wet cheeks. I hadn’t realized I was crying.

“Once upon a time there was a sad, lonely boy who was actually a forgotten prince. No one knew that he was rich and powerful and had a family that was searching for him.” I smiled sadly, wishing, more than anything, that this particular story had been true.

“One day he met a girl who swore that she would help him get back home to the castle. They fell in love. The prince wanted her to come back to the castle with him so they could live there together. They fought dragons and defeated ogres. They ran from witches and swam through oceans. And finally they found the castle. The prince’s family welcomed him home and he married his princess. And they lived happily ever after.”

I rested my forehead on the back of his hand, hating how cold his skin was. “You always loved your fairytales,” I mused, wishing he had been able to find his.

The hand in mine stirred and I bolted upright. Yoss’s face was contorted in pain, his eyes fluttering.

I got to my feet and reached for the call button so I could alert the nurse that something was wrong.

Then he let out a breath and his eyes opened. They were clouded and confused as they darted around the room, taking everything in.

I was rooted to the spot, not moving. He frowned and then winced when he tried to sit up.

“Uh, you shouldn’t do that. Take it easy,” I instructed, my voice shaking.

Then the wild, green eyes found me. There was no immediate recognition and I felt the crushing weight of disappointment.

He doesn’t know who I am.

His eyes were cold. So cold. Dead. He groaned as he lifted his hand to his face, touching the bandaged skin.

“Let me call the nurse. Your doctor will want to see you now that you’re awake—”

“Where am I?” he asked, his voice rough and hard.

It was a voice I had heard a million times in my dreams.

A voice I never thought I’d hear again. Not in real life.

“You’re at Lupton Memorial Hospital. You were brought in last night.” I didn’t give him any more details. I wasn’t sure he was ready for all that. He had just gained consciousness after all.

“The hospital,” he repeated. He struggled to sit up and hissed in pain at the effort.

“Seriously, you should wait and let me call the nurse—”

His eyes flashed in my direction and the cloud of confusion lifted as he speared me with a look that I felt in my bones.

I shrugged. “I always liked the idea of a happily ever after. That no matter what horrible things happened to people, everything ended up exactly how it should. With the perfect kiss. The fancy wedding. The evil stepsisters being forced to work as maids in the castle.” I laughed self-consciously. “I think maybe now more than any other time in my life, I could use a fairytale ending.”

I startled at the feel of Yoss’s hand on mine. He carefully, so gently, laced our fingers together.

Palm to palm.

“Tell me a story then, Imi. I want to hear a happy ending.”

A happy ending.

What did one of those even look like?

I continued to stare into the sky and I felt something inside of me shift.

With Yoss’s hand in mine I knew something with a certainty that came with being young and crazy about a boy who was crazy about me.

My happy ending was Yoss.

Yoss’s happy ending was me.

So I gave him the story I wished we had. The one that was full of fantasy. Improbable. Unrealistic. But there was truth in it as well.

The best kind.

“Once upon a time there was a girl from a happy family. She was loved and adored and never wanted for anything. She spent her days surrounded by friends and family. She smiled all the time, never having a reason to cry.” Yoss squeezed my hand and I took a deep breath.

“One day she met a boy who was just as happy. And together they realized how wonderful life could be. He wanted to take care of her. She wanted to stay by his side.” Yoss rested his chin on top of my head, and I leaned into him.

So close.

The closest yet.

“The girl had never been to the beach.”

“Neither had the boy,” Yoss added in a whisper, his lips moving against my hair.

“They decided to run away to the shore. Where they could dip their toes in the water and walk on the sand. Because everything was always better when they were together.”

“Did they live happily ever after? On the beach? Always together?” Yoss asked, his voice breaking.

I couldn’t look up at him because I knew what I’d see.

And I wasn’t prepared to see his doubt.

“Of course they did. Always together,” I murmured, shivering as the sun disappeared.

Yoss ran his thumb along the inside of my wrist. Slowly. Carefully. “We’ll walk on the beach, Imi, and we’ll dance on the sand. Because one day soon, I promise you that all this ugly will become something beautiful.” Did he believe that? How could he given where he spent his day? Where he sometimes spent his nights? How could he afford to dream the impossible?

But I wanted to dream with him.

I had to.

“I know, Yoss. One day soon,” I agreed.

We stayed like that for a long time, neither of us moving. I wasn’t sure if it was out of fear. Or out of contentment.

Whatever it was, it kept us still.

Lost in dreams neither of us really believed would ever come true.

I was feeling this book so much that I just had to gush about it to my blog partner Melanie. Telling her that she just HAD to stop reading her current ARC to read this book! I felt and believed in this book with all my being! I wanted her to experience what I experienced when I read it!

Sooo….

She read it!

And….

LOVED It!

Just as I had!

Here are both of our reviews 5+ reviews!!

I don’t even know where to start with this review. I’m truly at a loss for words.
This book had so many layers to it… So many layers.
I had such a full and rich feeling while reading it. All the feelings and emotions I went through. I mean I could picture it all. At times I could feel it too.

This book was just outstanding. It really took my breath away. I was also a crying mess! LOL

All these kids were so broken and beaten down. It was so sad to read.
They all ended up homeless for different reason. But somehow they all found each other and cling’ed to the little bit of normalcy they had made for themselves.
Becoming their own make shift family.
Staying together and helping each other in their own way.

Ughhh… Di, Karla, Bug, and Shane.
My heart broke for all of them.

But… My heart shattered for Yoss and Imi.
Their story was beautiful, raw, and flawed. They both fought to be together but were battling very difficult things in life. Life was just never easy for them.

Yoss was very set in his ways and I felt he could not change how he did things because of how long he was on the streets. He only knew one way to get by. He hated it.
But… What he does helps provide for himself and his friends. And even though he can stomach it. He keeps doing it so that he knows his friends won’t suffer…at least for a day or two.

When Imi choose the streets instead of staying home. She never imagined that one decision would change her life forever. It made her the person she is today. She learned a lot about herself.

This book had it all. First love and first heartbreaks. All the up’s and downs and highs and lows of being on the streets.
This book was just so beautifully written. The details I felt made the book.

If I could say one thing that I wish I could have changed about this book… It would have to be the ending.(a little bit)
The whole book was in such great detail. Going from past to present.
But what kind of got side swept under the rug and was super rushed was the whole hospital thing at the end. I would have liked a fast forward in a sense.
Until we got the ending we got. It almost felt like I needed to know the new Yoss. I wanted to know their journey. About how they got to where they were in the end.
It would have been nice to read how Imi helped Yoss through that tough time in his life.

This book will stay with me for a while. I was so glad to read on the author’s FB page that the story between Yoss and Imi will continue!!! Hopefully we get the missing years and more!

*ARC provided for an honest review*

Melanie’s Review

Let me begin by expressing just how crazy, sensational Meredith Walters’ One Day Soon is. Seriously, wow, what a story!!!

Like, the heroine, I too love fairytales and while Yoss’s and Imi’s story are filled with despair and heartache, it was still one of the most beautiful fairytales I’ve ever read. The author’s writing blew me away, the narration so flawless I felt like she was reading it to me out loud, lulling me into dreams that took me right into the pages of this book. The imagery and the setting of their tale so hauntingly real that I felt like Ms. Walters herself traversed into the lonely and dangerous streets alongside these forgotten, faceless people. It was all just too tangible, many times it seemed like my heart couldn’t bear the weight of their story. It is the rawness of this refreshing story that sets this book apart from so many out there. I loved the respect and the grace the author took to such a sensitive topic. What she did with One Day Soon was give faces and life to these forgotten people who meander the streets, fighting during every minute of their lives surviving the elements that continually threaten their very next breath. She managed to open not only my eyes but my goodness, she ripped my heart wide open.

“ There’s something wrong with this world when we overlook the ones that need our help most.”

Meredith Walters did this through the beautiful faces of her two main protagonists, Imogen (Imi) and Yossarian (Yoss). Decidedly two of the best characters to have graced the pages of a book, I can’t tell you enough just how much these two characters have come to mean to me. Imi whose whole life revolved around wishing for her mother to take notice of her finds herself making a life altering decision that would not only change her destiny but also change the life of someone who’d end up meaning the world to her. I found her decision to stay in a place without the basic necessities and in a world where her life was consistently in danger all because of the power of love to be inspiring. Love. Oh, what a powerful emotion and when it came to Yoss and Imi… Well, their love? It was earthshattering. It was the sort that could move mountains and part seas… And how could you leave something like that behind? How could you ever turn your back on a once in a million love even if it meant a roof over your head, a mattress to sleep on, food to fill your belly, and a nice warm shower to wash away the day’s ickyness if your heart was barren of love? This was what I loved about Imi so much. Her faith and her loyalty to her love for Yoss. That ignited a fire within me which is still burning brightly even after I’d read the last page of this book.

“Last night was the first time I thought about leaving before Yoss had a chance to return. I had entertained the idea briefly over the last six months. It flitted in and out of my head before taking root. Because I’d never be able to leave Yoss. He was my anchor.”

Yoss was someone who everyone was drawn to. He was the light in the unyielding darkness not only to Imi but to those who he’d claimed as his family. Karla, Di, Bug, and Shane. The faceless cast offs that we are all guilty of scrunching our noses at. It’s important that I mention this group of people because Yoss’ selflessness was boundless not only to Imi but to so many around him. It was so limitless that it left him scarred and used in such abhorrent ways in order to survive and more importantly, to provide. Yossarian Frazier is everything. EVERYTHING. He both filled my heart with so much goodness and shredded it in tatters at the same time. His character made me feel such jarring emotions, I had a really, really hard time controlling them. Over and over again, I kept asking myself “where did he find such strength?!” Where could he have possibly learned the true meaning of love when it was literally beat out of him? He amazed me and he won me over not with his green eyes and his jet black hair. It was his scars, his sacrifices, and his goodness that did all of that. And this invigorated me because those don’t ever exist in romance novels—it shouldhave been his green eyes and his baby face framed by his jet black hair to have melted me in a puddle. This was the kind of depth his character held, this was the beauty that the author created in Yoss Frazier.

“ My Yoss. He had been my happy life. Even when things were ugly.”

One Day Soon came highly recommended by my Book BFF and my blog partner, Michelle. It touched her in ways I’d never heard her express before and that was the sole reason why I’d decided on buying my own copy. She kept telling me how Yoss and Imi continued to follow her long after she’d finished the book. Well, I share her sentiment wholeheartedly. One Day Soon is not your atypical love story. It doesn’t even come remotely close to rainbows and unicorns nor are the pages littered with “hottie tottie” scenes of an alpha male and his damsel in distress. This is an inspirational novel that is so full of life and of love. Extraordinary characters exist in its pages and its pages are filled with moments of the past and of the present that will undoubtedly leave you touched in ways you wouldn’t and couldn’t ever have expected. It’s a lovely surprise, one you’ll be thankful for and one that will surely alter your views in some way. Yoss and Imi’s story leaves a lasting impression and One Day Soon is not one neither Michelle or I will one day soon forget.

“ We had felt like the force of nature. Unstoppable. Destined. We thrived on the passion and confidence of youth that left no room for doubt. We loved each other. And in the ugly world we inhabited, it was a light we had clung to.”

Zara Larsson & MNEK – Never Forget You (Lyrics) HQ

[Zara Larsson:]

I used to be so happy

But without you here I feel so low

I watched you as you left but I can never seem to let you go

‘Cause once upon a time you were my everything

It’s clear to see that time hasn’t changed a thing

It’s buried deep inside me but I feel there’s something you should know

I’ll never forget you

You’ll always be by my side

From the day that I met you

I knew that I would love you ’till the day I die

And I will never want much more

And in my heart I will always be sure

I will never forget you

And you will always be by my side ’till the day I die

Till the day I die (tll the day I die)

Till the day I die (tll the day I die)

[MNEK:]

Funny how we both end up here but everything seems alright

I wonder what will happen

If we went back and put up a fight

‘Cause once upon a time you were my everything

It’s clear to see that time hasn’t changed a thing

So thought in this world do you think could ever take you off my mind

[Zara Larsson:]

I will never forget you

And you’ll always be by my side

From the day that I met you

I knew that I would love you ’till the day I die

And I will never want much more

And in my heart I will always be sure

I will never forget you

And you’ll always be by my side ’till the day I die

[Both:]

Feeling it, loving it

Everything that we do

And all along, I knew I had something special with you

But sometimes you just gotta know that these things fall through

But I’m still tired and I can’t hide my connection with you

Feeling it, loving it

Everything that we do

And all along, I knew I had something special with you

But sometimes you just gotta know that these things fall through

I can’t hide my connection with you

I will never forget you

And you’ll always be by my side

From the day that I met you

I knew that I would love you ’till the day I die

And I will never want much more

And in my heart I will always be sure

That I will never forget you

And you’ll always be by my side till the day I die

‘Till the day I die…

I’ll never forget you…

‘Till the day I die.

About the Author

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary and New Adult romances including the Bad Rep, Find You in the Dark, Reclaiming the Sand, and Twisted Love series.